Smart Sheep

You may have heard, as I have over the years in various sermons, messages, and examples, that sheep are dumb animals! They are easily misled and often stubborn and ignorant.

The British author Sally Coulthard, who writes extensively about rural life and animals, wrote The Bee Bible and A History of the World According to Sheep. In this book, she relates some interesting facts about sheep. They have been domesticated for roughly 10,000–11,000 years. When it was discovered that sheep could provide meat, milk, hides, and wool, they became extraordinarily valuable animals. Coulthard also unpacks in her book how sheep literally helped shape civilization. She argues that sheep influenced economies, trade, clothing, food, language, warfare, and even the development of cities, partly because wool became an enormously valuable commodity.

So, sheep are extremely valuable and important. They are not as “dumb” as we might think; they are simply dependent. They need leadership. They need a shepherd—a relational contact and connection who leads them and does for them what they cannot do for themselves.

“The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul.” Psalm 23:1–3

You and I are the sheep, and we are in need of a good shepherd. And we have one in the Lord Jesus Christ.

When we follow His voice and listen to Him, He has the heart to find places and seasons of peace, provision, and refreshing for us. We are so valuable that God the Father gave His own Son to bring us back into the fold.

So, activate the first line of Psalm 23. Allow, make, and submit to the Lord as your shepherd. May you have the recognition in your heart that Jesus is “my” Shepherd, and may you have a personal devotion and an ear attuned to His leading in your life. For from this position of intimate relationship comes the benefits and opportunities that follow in this beautiful passage of Scripture.